My Two Cents On The OKW Annual Meeting

[walter]

Sorry about this late posting, but my wife and I just returned from the DCL 12/7-14 cruise where we met many nice fellow DVC'ers.
We attended the annual OKW meeting and were not impressed by the program. Granted, it is a formality that is required by the contract, but the open portion of the program had a bit to be desired. Several people that I spoke to prior to the meeting, were going to speak about some problems with housekeeping, but they never got a chance to speak (limited time for discussion). One lady got up and spoke on how great the cast members were (for an extended amount of time) and some other people spoke on budgetary items. I spoke with someone after the meeting from member benefits about the possibility of discounts on WDW passes due to the termination of the Disney Club program. Her reply was that "anything was possible". After being told at the owners meeting that The Beach Club Villas were approx. 65% sold and VB and HH were close to being sold out, the need to provide perks is not a priority.
There was alot of action on the ship this past week for the DVC reps. They seemed to be busy the whole time they were on the cruise.

 

[ncligs]

walter,
Thanks for taking the time to post about the meeting.

 

[JudithM]

I am sorry you were not impressed by the "program" of the OKW general meeting. However, this has been the format for the last several years that I have attended this meeting. It is my understanding that the formats of the Board meeting & the member meeting are based not only on our contracts, but also Florida law. For example, isn't FL law quoted when the CM reads about notifying members of the meeting?

Issues that have been raised at the open sessions in the past have been vigorously addressed by DVC CMs. If a member/guest has a specific issue with housekeeping, then that person should speak directly to the housekeeping supervisor/manager. For example we had a question about caulk & spoke to the head of engineering. He listened & took care of the issue before we returned to our rom that day .

As to limited time for discussions, I have to disagree. In the past there have been A LOT of time for discussion back & forth on some heated issues. Plus CMs are available before the meeting begins both in the lobby & inside the conference room; during the Q&A sessions; after the meeting; &/or any other time a member needs to speak to someone. I have used all of the above means to speak with CMs!

DVC CMs WANT TO HEAR FROM MEMBERS especially before an issue becomes a crisis. DVC CMs want HAPPY members!

As for the member who spoke positively about CMs, I appreciate the fact that members recognize the hard work the CMs provide for us (& no, I do not work for DIsney ).

I know for a fact that the CMs who work on members' benefits work hard to provide us with the perks we do have. Yes, I might like more perks, however, when I purchased DVC, I did not buy into it just for the benfits/perks. My benefit is the guaranteed use of the timeshare facility.

 

[walter]

JudithM,
I was not trying to be totally negative about the meeting, and as I stated, just as in other states, an annual meeting is required by law. I just felt that the individuals, including the President of DVC Development LLC, could have alotted a little more time for member comments. Several members had their hands raised for questions to be answered, when they ended the meeting. I agree that many representatives were in attendance and as I stated, I spoke with one of them. My personal feeling on this matter is that if something is discussed openly at a meeting, you are more likely to get an answer to a question that is heard by more than one person (less of a chance for misinterpretation).
I think it is great that the sofas are being replaced with a new style at OKW and TV's replaced along with DVD players installed.

 

[manning]

If there were more questions to be asked, why was the meeting adjourned. Was a prior time limit set for a Q&A period? Or was the meeting rushed to a conclusion to avoid questions?

 

[RobDoc]

The timeframe for the meeting was announced before it began. There were some moments during the "open" portion when nothing was asked, but towards the conclusion Mr. Aguel did announce they'd accept 2 more questions and stuck to that. They then proceeded to answer questions after the meeting closed.

As mentioned, some of the available time was used praising CM's- not questions- and some of the time was used complaining about specific personal issues. ie--one man complained that he called on October 8 for a reservation for Dec 1 and was sure something was wrong when MS told him nothing was available- he then accepted a ressie at PO/R and then complained again when it wasn't as nice as a 1BR at OKW and wanted his points back after staying there.

Questions were asked about pool hopping, online account access and several other topics often discussed here, but much of the time was used for "storytelling" by some in the audience.